Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations

After Scolding From Judge, Government Provides Updated Plan To Reunite Families

The new HHS plan clarifies that the agency will use methods other than DNA testing to verify parentage for most older children. The government has drawn sharp words from U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw by suggesting officials couldn't verify parentage properly within the court’s timeline.

Politico:
HHS Submits Updated Plan For Reuniting Migrant Children With Parents
U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw scolded the Health and Human Services Department Friday, saying it was using safety concerns as "cover" to avoid meeting his July 26 deadline to reunite with their parents all 2551 children aged 5 to 17 who were detained at the border. Sabraw previously ordered HHS to return to their parents by July 10 all 102 children under 5 who were detained at the border. In response, HHS reunited all but 46, saying these children were ineligible for reunificaiton because verification wasn’t complete or because of safety concerns. (Kullgren, 7/15)

The New York Times:
Judge Criticizes Trump Administration For Response To Family Reunification Order
The Health and Human Services Department outlined a new, more accelerated plan to return nearly 3,000 migrant children to their parents by a July 26 deadline. But it also said that doing so required faster vetting procedures and would probably place the children in abusive environments or with adults falsely claiming to be their parents. In a court filing that included the new plan, Chris Meekins, the deputy assistant secretary of preparedness and response, said, “While I am fully committed to complying with this court’s order, I do not believe that the placing of children into such situations is consistent with the mission of H.H.S. or my core values.” The judge, Dana M. Sabraw of Federal District Court in San Diego, was not moved. (Dickerson, 7/14)

Bloomberg:
Reunited Immigrant Families Face Difficult Choice To Split Again
Escaping gruesome violence at the hands of police and gangs in Honduras, a mother and her daughter arrived in the U.S. on June 8 near McAllen, Texas, and turned themselves in to federal agents. They were then separated and held in custody 1,555 miles apart, according to court filings. The 12-year-old daughter is now among a couple thousand migrant children that the U.S. is working to reunite with parents over the next two weeks following a federal judge’s order last month. (Mehrotra, 7/14)

The Hill:
Dems Launch Pressure Campaign Over Migrant Families
Democratic lawmakers are trying to keep up the pressure on the Trump administration over its struggles to reunite families separated at the southern border under the "zero tolerance" immigration policy.
Members of the House and Senate are using every hearing and markup of health-related legislation to push for amendments aimed at holding the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) accountable. (Weixel, 7/13)

The Wall Street Journal:
After Immigrant Families Are Reunited, Scars Of Separation Remain
In the days after Ever Reyes Mejía was reunited with his 3-year-old son last Tuesday, the young father tried to make their lives seem normal again. The two kicked around a soccer ball and played with toy cars while staying at a volunteer’s home in Detroit. Mr. Reyes Mejía wrapped his son in tight embraces, promising he would never be alone again. Father and son were separated three months ago at a Texas migrant-detention center; the boy was sent to an agency in Michigan while Mr. Reyes Mejía was sent to another Texas facility. (Campo-Flores and West, 7/15)

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